EVEN arriving a few hours before a match does not seem to matter anymore for the Warriors.
BY WELLINGTON TONI
On Saturday, the Warriors arrived in Comoros at 1230pm, three hours before kick-off to their preliminary round, second leg match of the 2016 Orange African Nations Championships (Chan) in Moroni.
They were leading 2-0 from the first leg played at Rufaro two weeks ago, thanks to goals from Evans Rusike and Marshall Mudehwe.
On Saturday, they put aside the shambolic travelling arrangements, stemming from a lack of government support and a broke Zifa, to draw the second leg 0-0 to set up an October date against Lesotho.
Lesotho played a 1-1 draw against Botswana at the National Stadium in Gaborone and progressed on the away goals rule.
The first match between Zimbabwe and Lesotho will take place on the weekend of October 17-18 before the return leg a week later to decide who goes through to next year’s finals in Rwanda.
Judging by his team selection on Saturday, Warriors coach Kalisto Pasuwa was not willing to give any space to the host nation.
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Blessing Moyo maintained his spot on the right back position, Teenage Hadebe and Lawrence Mhlanga were the centre backs with Liberty Chakoroma on the left.
Pasuwa opted for a double defensive pairing of skipper Danny Phiri and Gerald Takwara with Emmanuel Mandiranga and Carlos Rusere on the wings. Mgcini Sibanda and Edmore Chirambadare, making his debut after missing the opener two weeks ago, were tasked with keeping the Comoros defenders at the back.
The Warriors missed a number of chances, notably from Mandiranga and Chirambadare in the first half. Mandiranga had another opportunity to give the Warriors more breathing space in the 52nd minute but was too slow to shoot until the danger was cleared.
Pasuwa told our sister paper The Standard after the match that more needs to be done in terms of preparation ahead of the Lesotho matches in October.
“I never thought the boys would run throughout the match, considering the high temperatures that we have here. However, I am happy for the boys who have proved to be ready for battle despite all the obstacles that we faced during our preparations”.
“Now that we are going to face tougher opponents, we need to put our house in order and do proper preparations,” Pasuwa said.
Focus now shifts to the Under 23 Championship first leg against South Africa on July 19 and Zifa and its stakeholders will need to put their house in order to ensure proper preparations and timely travelling arrangements.
Warriors line up
Donovan Bernard, Blessing Moyo, Lawrence Mhlanga, Teenage Hadebe, Liberty Chakoroma, Gerald Takwara, Danny Phiri, Emmanuel Mandiranga, Carlos Rusere (Malvern Gaki 71st min), Mgcini Sibanda (Tino Kadewere 87th min), Ernest Chirambadare
